Principle EMBA · Session 95: The Two Critical Capabilities Enterprises Will Rely on in the Future

Business success often comes from choosing the difficult but correct path. In today’s market, if enterprises want to achieve sustainable growth and a future, what is that “difficult but right” path they should take?

Many companies are already focusing on one key move: upgrading organizational capabilities—building the organization on systems, and building growth on the organization itself.

Perhaps this is the path that leads to the future.

01

Return from a Hundred Battles to Become a Principle Build the Organization to Break Through Growth

We are now in an era of management dividends, where an enterprise’s competitive edge lies in organizational upgrading. In a market defined by stock-based competition, the side with stronger combat capability is the one that can win this tough battle. The value of organizational capability goes far beyond resolving immediate challenges—it is about facing the future and enabling enterprises to navigate cycles sustainably.

On November 22–23, the 95th session of the Principle EMBA officially opened as scheduled at the Huaban Building teaching zone of Action Education’s headquarters. Entrepreneurs and management leaders from across China and Southeast Asia returned from countless battles to become principles, embarking deeply on the path of organizational transformation and upgrade.

This session’s class still gathers “star enterprises” from various industries, such as: Youfa Steel Pipe Group, the leading welding steel pipe enterprise in China; Zhenjiu Lidu Group, known as the “No.1 Baijiu stock on the Hong Kong market”; the well-known high-end home decoration brand Kingtall; Haoxin Group, a single champion enterprise in China’s casting industry; Shandong Installation Group, a large comprehensive installation enterprise; Yihetang, a famous original innovative tea beverage brand in China; Noposion, a leading company in the pesticide formulation industry; Superstar Agriculture & Animal Husbandry, a leading listed company in the agricultural and food sector; Kemin Sensor, a pioneer in new energy vehicles and energy storage battery sensors; Lingyun Optics, a leading listed company in machine vision and optical communication technology; Simbach Beer, the “No.1 nationwide seller of oak barrel beer”; Reliable Shares, the “No.1 stock in the silver economy sector”; Chenggong Education, a leading brand in China’s public examination industry; Juyitang, a well-known yoga apparel supplier; and Wu Jia Catering, a “time-honored” rice noodle enterprise from Xinjiang.

·Speech by the New Student Representative·

Xiong Xiong

Founder of Chenggong Group

Leading Figure in the Public Examination Industry

Chenggong Education is engaged in civil servant education. This industry has a huge market and very strong demand. Against this backdrop, Chenggong Education has grown from just 3 people at the beginning to more than 3,000 today, becoming a leading brand in the public examination industry.

Today, I am also honored to be classmates with all of you. I want to share three sentences:

The first is, “The path through the mountain pass is truly like iron.” The development of any enterprise will definitely encounter various difficulties — internal management, external competition — but no matter how tough the market is, as long as we keep learning and continuously improve, the enterprise will surely get better and better.

The second is, “The righteous path in the world is full of vicissitudes.” The development of anything requires following the right path, and enterprises are no exception. Before coming to Action Education, many entrepreneur friends strongly recommended me to study here, saying, “If you study at Action Education, you will definitely thank me.” After the first study, we signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Action Education. Why so quickly? Because the gains were truly huge — whether in strategy, values, customers, marketing, finance, or other aspects, it helped us find the right path for managing the enterprise. Since the cooperation began, our increased revenue and production have far exceeded the amount agreed upon in the strategic cooperation.

The third is, “There will be times when the long wind and waves break through.” Chinese enterprises will definitely go global. To all entrepreneur friends, let’s work hard together for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Let’s take action, learn together, and march toward becoming number one in the world.

02

Build the organization on a system Equip growth with a powerful engine

How can an organization unleash powerful energy to drive continuous business growth? By investing in the “system” rather than the “individual,” building the organization upon a solid system.

Investing in the organization is not merely about investing in the people within it, but more importantly, about building a high-quality, well-functioning organizational system. This enables everyone in each operational module to continuously create greater value within the system.

To embark on the Principle’s path is to embark on the journey of forging the organizational system. Each course module of the "Principle EMBA" is designed to create an SOP model for that module, allowing enterprises to learn, improve, and implement simultaneously — learning while building the organization upon a solid system.

·Speech by the School Representative·

Huang Qiang

Vice Principal, Action Education

A very warm welcome to the students of the 95th cohort. Starting today, we embark together on the Principle’s path. Many of you may ask: why call it “Principle”? Over the years, Action Education has indeed pioneered the identity of the “Entrepreneur Principle.” This is not just a comprehensive upgrade of the entrepreneur’s personal role, but also a systematic restructuring of the enterprise’s capabilities.

In the past, we have served over a hundred thousand enterprise students. We have always been researching what the most important driver of enterprise growth is. Later, we found that successful enterprises, those that achieve sustained growth and industry leadership, essentially possess two capabilities. The first is specialized expertise in their industry—whether in R&D, product, or business model—seizing the commanding heights of the industry. The second capability may be invisible but can create a huge gap: it is the people-centered organizational capability. The era of easy dividends is over. In this competitive age, enterprises rely on their core capabilities—people and organization—to drive growth.

The "Principle EMBA" gathers “20 major course systems + 20 top practical instructors.” The 10 compulsory courses cover the enterprise’s essential organizational systems, including talent recruitment and selection, talent replication, AI-based organizations, large-scale marketing systems, large-scale financial systems, tax-commerce models, strategic commanding heights inspired by Sun Tzu’s Art of War, and more. These systems will drive enterprises to transform and upgrade. The other 10 elective courses are freely chosen by students based on their enterprise needs.

The 20 top practical instructors represent Action Education’s significant investment in manpower and resources to select the best teachers worldwide to accompany entrepreneur principals’ growth. They come from different fields and spend nearly two-thirds of their time annually consulting—moving between classroom and enterprise, and back—teaching and learning go hand in hand.

Therefore, we look forward to the 95th cohort growing together, learning from one another, and together achieving great enterprises and great brands.

03

Relentlessly recruit talented leaders

Embark on the path of organizational upgrade

Right after the opening ceremony, the first module of the "Principle EMBA" — Talent Recruitment and Selection — will commence immediately.

People are the foundation of everything and the core of any organization. On the Principal’s path, we first help the 95th cohort of entrepreneur principals build a “highly specialized and elite talent recruitment and selection system” for their enterprises.

This module is co-led by Mr. Li Jian, Chairman and CEO of Action Education, and Ms. Yang Jing, author of the bestselling book “General Talent” and head of Action Education’s Talent Recruitment and Selection enterprise coaching program. They will help entrepreneur principals clarify the underlying logic of the talent system, build a “Five-Star General System” for identifying A+ level talent, and accelerate enterprises in optimizing their talent structure and broadly attracting highly specialized elite talent.

Study by day, implement by night. The Principal’s path is a journey of organizational revolution and continuous upgrading.

Congratulations to the 95th cohort of entrepreneur principals as you set sail on this journey.